Schools’ efforts to stop students from using their cellphones during class have set up a battle of wits between teachers and their charges.
From checking their messages on smartwatches to stuffing calculators in Yondr pouches instead of their phones, students are constantly trying to find ways around school cellphone policies. To get a sense of what tactics students are using and how schools are responding, the EdWeek Research Center this fall asked teachers, principals, and district leaders how students in their schools try to circumvent cellphone bans.
Their responses to an open-ended question reveal how much energy teachers are expending on trying to stay one step ahead of their students. As a high school teacher in Nevada put it: “Students are sneaky.”
The educators’ perspectives come at a critical time when more schools and states are putting cellphone restrictions in place. But those policies range from full-scale bans of cellphones during school hours to more flexible policies that allow students to possess, but not use, their phones in class. Making those policies work in practice can be very difficult, educators point out.
In addition to identifying some of the most common ways students are thwarting cellphone policies, a few other trends emerged from educators’ responses on the survey: namely, that while students are certainly causing teachers headaches, parents as well as school and district leadership can also undermine efforts to keep cellphone distractions in the class to a minimum.
Following is a compilation of some of the more illuminating responses on how students are getting around cellphone bans and how schools are—or are not—responding. Nearly 500 teachers, principals, and district leaders responded to the open-ended survey question.
Hiding cellphones in pockets, using burner phones, and accessing smartwatches
— High school teacher, Pennsylvania
— High school teacher, Tennessee
— High school teacher, New York
— Elementary school principal, New Jersey
–High school teacher, Nevada
— High school teacher, Wisconsin
— High school science teacher, Texas
What’s working to make cellphone policies more effective
— Middle school principal, California
— High school teacher, Kansas
— High school principal, Florida
— High school teacher, Minnesota
— Middle school teacher, Michigan
— Elementary school principal, Washington
Lack of support from colleagues and school and district leaders can be a problem
— High school teacher, Wyoming
— High school teacher, Kansas
— High school teacher, Florida
— High school teacher, Michigan
— High school teacher, Minnesota
— High school teacher, Arkansas
Some parents make it very difficult to enforce cellphone restrictions
— Middle school teacher, Illinois
— Middle school teacher, Texas
— High school teacher, Georgia
— District-level administrator (human resources), Oregon
— Principal, Texas
— High school principal, Michigan
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.